


The Summoning

by Merfilly



Series: One Chance to Set it Right [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Divergence - Order 66, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 14:43:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14022495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: When the 127th fail to completely destroy Plo Koon's ship, Commander Wolffe puts into motion events that may yet change the path of the Empire and the Sith.





	The Summoning

He was alone, alone and — alive? That last was not expected. He struggled to bring his mind back under control, to remember. There was a pain in his head, one that felt like the abyss of his soul eating away at his sanity.

His bucket was off and he was sprawled on a floor in a barren room with an airlock style door, and an observation window. The window allowed viewing out, and the universal lights for cycling an airlock were lit in such a way that he didn't think he was locked in.

Where—

Oh.

Memories crashed into him, memories of struggling to get his General out of a wreckage, of firing on brothers that were lost to sense and reason. He'd managed to get to a ship, one carrying a canister of Dorin gas, but he hadn't had any way to seal an air tent around his General.

He'd flushed the oxygen out, and flooded the ship, sealed in his armor, with limited reserves of air, and set course for Dorin. His own death would never matter to him, but if Plo Koon died without him trying everything, then all he'd ever done was worthless.

His bucket was off, lying near him, and he realized they must have made it. Vague impressions of landing, possibly of being manhandled, came back then. He must have already been losing consciousness, having stretched his air as long as he could.

Where was his General? Was he still alive? He couldn't quite make his mind reach, as the pain in his head was too intense, a leftover from the poisoning of his air in his armor, no doubt. 

He had to stay calm. He couldn't leave this room until he had — 

His good eye fell on cartridges by the door, the kind that fit inside envirosuits. Pulling himself fully upright, he went over and acquired them, studying the connector. It would take a little engineering, but he was pretty certain he could exchange these for the spent ones in his armor.

"Just hold on, _buir_. I'm coming," he whispered to himself.

* * *

Healer Lia, dedicated to the care and well being of the Koon clan, had not left the side of the revered Jedi and Sage, Plo Koon, ever since his ship had managed a bad landing in one of the larger caves for such. With the turmoil of the galaxy, the clan had sent the ship away, on a purposefully bad course, after salvaging all the foods and munitions aboard for the human.

They had then moved into the deeper complexes, as another precaution, and sent word to the Sages to begin protecting themselves. This had long since been foreseen, and they would not lose their Force tradition to the purges coming.

Lia had long been Plo's friend, and on his last visit to acquire supplies, she had won the boon she wanted from him, against the chance that he would be lost to the war. She had a fervor to her efforts, not just for their friendship, but because the child she carried should have both parents if possible.

"Don't you leave me to raise our explorer alone," she whispered, before sinking deep into trance, again, to anchor his mind against the violent chaos that had erupted through the galaxy.

* * *

Death.

His mind was nothing but death. The quick death of a lightsaber, the more painful ones of the blasters, a loss of environment for one that had been a brother and student to him — all of them blended into a tapestry of suffering and isolation quickly building in a mind that had touched so many in his decades of life.

Those gone before called out, offering oblivion to him.

Closer, though, there was desperation. There was determination. Farther out, he felt lives he had guided and mentored struggle to survive. Exploring those took him too close to betrayal and shock, closer to the dying.

He needed them to pull away from the death. He could not lay down his burden while those of his own shaping lived. He reached, tattered and torn by the lost ones, touching the dim lights of the survivors.

~Come~

It was a plea, a command, an entreaty for healing and safety alike.

He fell back into the raggedness of self, exhausted by the effort, but aware that he was not alone. The healer was known, the son was welcome… and Plo Koon slept.

* * *

Wolffe looked at Lia as she fell back from his General, his face hard with worry. Ever since he'd made it out of the containment room, he'd been here with her and Plo. That his General was not conscious scared him, yet she wasn't giving up.

"He is more himself? He is sleeping, within his own body now, not — " Lia tried to find the right words, speaking to a mind blind human with the limitations of Basic. "His psyche was out there, touching the parts of his connections that still existed."

Wolffe slowly nodded. "Alright. So… we wait now?"

"No choice for it." Lia refocused on him. "The clan put a bed and necessary equipment in the arboretum we maintain for off-worlders that require oxygen. One will come to show you where it is this evening. Our concern now is your food, as they put a machine in to help you refill your air tanks."

"The salvaged food will last me a long while, Healer Lia," Wolffe told her. "Thank you."

Later, there would be intel to gather. Later, there would be a need to leave this place. 

Later, but only if his General came through this.

* * *

It had been hell getting free of the medstation, but Bultar had. She was thankful to the medics that had warned her of the _vod'e_ betrayal. She grieved for the losses among the Order, and for the men that had turned on them.

What had happened?!

She didn't dare try to reach her original unit, to find out if Thrust—

She cut that thought off. She would not think about her Commander who had taken such a large part of her loyalty, making her doubt the Order's ways. She knew she needed to regroup, get clear intel on events, and then act.

While choosing where to go, she felt a connection with a strong command, giving her both hope and a direction to go in.

* * *

Shaak Ti, barely escaping with her life, felt a pull and knew what it meant. Her friend, a mentor in her youth, lived. She would have to be cautious getting to him, but she had survived so far. There had to be a reason for that, and she would find her purpose at his side. Stealing a ship was easy enough for a Jedi, as chaos was more the norm in the lower levels.

She had just started to board when she felt a whisper against her mind again, but this one was not her mentor. She paused, scanning the surroundings, until she spotted the tall figure in a cloak that hid all features. She flicked both lekku at the figure, and saw them raise a hand out of the sleeve, revealing talons instead of fingers.

{Sha?} she thought, very hard, in that direction.

{Yes. Did you feel him?}

With Sha to support the conversation, it was easier. {Yes. I mean to make my way there. Come?}

{Yes, Master,} Sha Koon answered, joining the Togruta in escaping before the new Empire could fully control traffic on and off Coruscant.

* * *

"Stay with me," Ahsoka told Rex, after escaping from their unit, putting distance between them.

"We'd both be safer if we separate," he argued, weakly.

"I — I know. But… I think Master Koon is alive. I can feel a pull, and the Force agrees I should follow it." She looked down, then back up. "I don't want to do this alone."

He nodded, then looked back at the ships they had been studying. "So we steal one ship, blow up the rest. No big deal."

It made her half-smile, and that was worth it, a way to hide the agony they both felt, knowing that they had barely escaped death at the hands of those they trusted most. Rex would tell her, once they made hyperspace, what he knew.

It wouldn't ease the guilt that he'd failed to do it in time to save them, but at least she'd know.

* * *

It had not dawned on those who watched over the recovering Jedi that those who came might mean harm to any others.

Wolffe was edgy as ever, and on guard for threats, but Knight Swan was a master of two separate combat disciplines without her lightsaber. He found himself pinned to the floor before he'd truly realized who he was defending himself against. Part of his ability to analyze a situation understood why she had attacked him in the moment that she had entered.

The other part was just intent on not letting her get to her lightsaber, his blaster, or the release for his helmet, as any of the three could kill him and prevent him from protecting his General.

"Bultar," a weak, almost whisper of a voice called out. "He saved me."

The Knight held on for just a moment, then released Wolffe, who shot over to the bed, kneeling beside the low platform to wrap his hands around one of Plo's.

" _Buir_!" he said, voice harsh with relief and pain alike, to hear the man so reduced. "You're awake! No, don't talk. Don't reach, either. Healer Lia said you'd be weak when you came to."

Bultar composed herself and went to the other side of the bed, kneeling much as Wolffe had. "Master," she said very softly. "I came, as you asked."

Plo squeezed Wolffe's hand weakly, but turned his eyes to see the young woman he had finished training. He blinked at her slowly, heeding the warning about communicating, and shifted his free hand. She took it, bowing her head as he closed his eyes once again.

"First time he's been conscious since we made it here," Wolffe said, when it was clear Plo had slipped back under.

Bultar took a moment, then looked at him. "I regret that I attacked you. I thought you were a threat."

"Given it was my own men that did this to him? I understand."

* * *

When Shaak Ti and Sha Koon arrived, it was Bultar that was between the bed and the door, protecting both her teacher and the man that had saved him. She was glad she had, or there might have been a repeat of her own mistake.

"He is not affected by whatever madness took the rest of them," Bultar said fiercely at the Master and Knight both. "He brought my Master here to be healed, nearly at the cost of his own life from what the others told me."

The two elder women forced themselves away from protective aggression and nodded. Wolffe then came to attention for them.

"Sirs."

Shaak Ti moved forward, sizing him up, trying not to let the visceral reaction to the Temple slaughter overwhelm her at seeing the armor. "Do you have any idea what came over the men?"

"Not a kriffing clue, sir," he told her, and she could feel the mingled horror, anger, and honesty in those words. "I just knew they had turned on my General, and did all I could to get him out of his wreckage and to safety."

Lia came into the chamber then, going to clasp hands with Sha, before surveying her sleeping patient and his guests. "More beds for the arboretum, it seems," she said, before looking at Wolffe. "We have another ship inbound, and this one… the pilot is Ahsoka Tano, and she is asking safe harbor for herself and one other.

"That one is one of your brothers, Commander. The last I had been told, she was no longer of the Order. Do you believe it safe to answer?"

"Commander Tano would never bring harm to us," Wolffe said.

"That is what I used to say about the men," Bultar said darkly. "My Master has been at odds with himself over his part in her leaving, though."

Lia waited as the others considered, then listened when Shaak Ti spoke. 

"As an elder of her species, I will meet them when they land. If she is under some influence, or in league with Skywalker still, I will know," she told them. Her body language, despite the protective mask, spoke of quick vengeance if she was.

"Skywalker?!" erupted from both Wolffe and Bultar.

"Go, Master," Sha said, "and I will tell them of the Temple. Unless you prefer to make certain she knows it too."

"That might be best; if she is not with him, we must protect her from falling to his sway, by revealing just what he did."

* * *

Rex could feel the tension in Ahsoka building as their ship was made to land in one of the more open caves. She had fitted herself with a protective mask, attached the cylinders for air, and then added a cloak over it all to protect from the elements. When they both stepped off the ship, it was not a Kel Dor who met them, but another Togruta, one known to both of them.

Rex kept his peace inside his bucket, while Ahsoka's shoulders visibly tensed under the cloak.

"Master Ti," she said, her voice carefully controlled and quiet enough to abide by Kel Dor sensibilities. 

"Ahsoka Tano. And your friend?"

Armor could be stolen, Rex knew, but it stung to feel all that distrust aimed at the pair of them. "Captain Rex, ma'am," he said for himself. "I don't have a control chip anymore, General Ti. I know what happened to my brothers. I was just too late.

"Might not have been, if you'd actually listened to Fives those months ago, though," he finished, and had the savage satisfaction of seeing the serene Jedi stumble in shock.

"Follow me, both of you," she said softly, her voice less of a challenge to their presence.

* * *

By common assent, the meeting of Plo's chosen moved to the arboretum, where Bultar and Wolffe were already living. The green growing things in here kept the air fresh, and it was sealed behind airlocks, so they could not poison the native air with all of their oxygen.

Lia had insisted she could keep the vigil alone, and seeing Rex had been enough to pry Wolffe away.

"We must share what we currently know," Shaak Ti said. "I am asking Captain Rex to speak first."

Wolffe watched his brother take off his helmet to show a weary, pained face. He felt that pain too, but listened hungrily for the truth of what had happened.

"Months ago, I lost a man after he had murdered a Jedi in the middle of combat. He had been examined by my medic, then taken to Kamino, where his actions were explained away as a medical condition," Rex began. "The ARC Trooper who accompanied him did not believe it, and conducted an investigation of his own. 

"All of you probably heard about the attempt on the Chancellor's life by a rogue clone then. Fives was hunted down and killed, but not before giving me enough pieces to keep questioning. I had the opportunity, recently, to finally chase it down, and an ally helped me confirm it.

"We all had embedded chips, and those allowed the Chancellor to bypass our loyalty to the Jedi to make my brothers into murderers," Rex said, tapping a faint scar along his scalp.

To their credit, the Jedi present looked sick, Wolffe noted. He then looked at the scar's location and frowned.

"Mine… must have been damaged or destroyed by the witch," he said, his voice a low growl.

"Probably, _vod_." Rex shook his head. "I made it back to my unit, intending to talk to the generals, but things went sideways first." 

Wolffe could see the guilt and anger in his brother, and made a promise to himself to help him work through it later.

"Indeed they did," Shaak Ti said. Wolffe watched her focus on Ahsoka, who was being far more quiet than Wolffe was used to seeing her be. "How did you come to be back with a unit, young Tano?"

"Anakin and I had a meeting, not that long ago. He asked for my help with the Mandalore campaign," Ahsoka answered, her tone defensive. "When the call came in about Coruscant, Master Kenobi promoted me to General, split the 501st to spin off the 332nd, and left the campaign to me.

"The last communications we had received from either the 212th or the 501st said that Grievous had been found, and that the 501st was needed to reinforce the Guard," she finished.

"Did you notice anything out of the ordinary about your former master then?" Sha asked her, eliciting a frown.

"No," Ahsoka said, wary and starting to look like she wanted to be ill.

Wolffe realized she was picking up on the hostility and cleared his throat. "Tell us; I believe the Commander… excuse me, General… on how she came to be with my brothers again," he told the Jedi to stop the dance around vital facts.

Shaak Ti inclined her head to him, then began. "Skywalker has Fallen. He personally led the attack that burned the Temple, killing all that I could not get evacuated, or those that stood their ground for others to try to escape. He had named Palpatine as a Sith to the Council, causing those who were not injured in the battle for Coruscant to go arrest him.

"It was, evidently, a trap. Skywalker had remained, for a time, after the announcement, but then left. At the time, I deduced he meant to aid the Masters.

"I was wrong."

Ahsoka had all but crumpled at the words, with Rex moving to get an arm around her shoulders. Wolffe pitied the girl; she had loved the men who had turned against them all and now this?

"What do we do now?" Bultar asked softly, obviously horrified by the idea.

"We wait for Plo Koon to heal, as the eldest of us. We may very well be the last of the Jedi," Shaak Ti told her, and the rest of them. "Then, we will make our plans. Perhaps the chips can be subverted, or we will determine a way to end the Sith. No matter what, we must be careful.

"The Order may have come to an end, but the ideas must survive, for the Light to return."

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Sha Koon was shown to have survived the Temple assault, and later lured Vader into the underlevels, injuring him, before dying in her canon.
> 
> 2\. Bultar was present at the battle of Coruscant, then sent to a medstation. She was warned of the Order and escaped, falling in with other survivors. They lured Vader to a trap on Kessel, where Bultar and another managed to gravely injure Vader and 'capture' him. Another Jedi murdered her there for her canon ending.
> 
> 3\. Shaak Ti had multiple death scenes to choose from, but this uses the one that leads to _Force Unleashed_ canon, where she held the Temple for a time and then escaped to wander her way to Felucia.
> 
> 4\. Obviously borrowing from _Ahsoka_ and the unfinished concepts for "The Siege of Mandalore" but changing the split between her and Rex at that point.


End file.
